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Breaking Benjamin
The breakout of this Scranton-based band in 2007 will forever be the most amazing run that M-M-Rch Madness has seen. Some best-known songs: The Diary of Jane, Polyamorous, So Cold Tournament History Current record: 11-5 2007 tournament Seeded: 15 * Round 1: Win vs (2) The Killers * Round 2: Win vs (7) My Chemical Romance * Round 3: Win vs (6) Shinedown * Round 4: Win vs (12) Godsmack * Round 5: Win vs Bon Jovi (80's region) * Round 6: Win vs Pearl Jam (90's region) 2008 tournament Seeded: 5 * Round 1: Win vs (12) Coldplay * Round 2: Win vs (4) Incubus * Round 3: Loss vs (1) Foo Fighters 2009 tournament Seeded: 12 *Round 1: Loss vs (5) Disturbed 2010 tournament Seeded: 6 * Round 1: Win vs (11) The White Stripes * Round 2: Win vs (3) Kings of Leon * Round 3: Win vs (2) Linkin Park * Round 4: Loss vs (1) Foo Fighters 2011 tournament Seeded: 8 * Round 1: Loss vs (9) Cage the Elephant 2012 tournament Seeded: 12 * Round 1: Loss vs (5) Shinedown The 2007 tournament run See also: 2007 Tournament Breaking Benjamin's win in 2007 was the most improbably perfect storm to come together. There were a number of things that had to happen for BB to pull of this miracle run as a first-timer. To wit: # Pearl Jam backers widely decree that this will be Pearl Jam's year, after losing in the '06 finals. # Jaxon suggests that some new flavors should be introduced into the tournament mix and that listeners should vote for bands other than the established favorites. This becomes remarkably true. # Jaxon also picks Breaking Benjamin as his dark horse for the year. He wants to see his favorite band, Tool, do well, but thinks that BB is a less biased and more interesting pick. # As a newcomer with an inevitable low seed, they had to be paired against a band that was horribly overseeded. The Killers have proven to be inept at any seed, let alone #2. # My Chemical Romance wins round 1. Being a flash-in-the-pan that year, they take out the real competition from their pairing, (Incubus,) and then go out without a fight in round 2. # Round 3 against Shinedown occurs during Jaxon's shift. Shinedown is the first real competition BB gets, and they dismantle SD following the afternoon crowd and the bandwagon that has been formed. This carries over into round 4 against Godsmack. # The 00's winner should, in theory, have no chance against a real champion emerging out of the 70's or 80's bracket. Breaking Benjamin ends up facing neither, as Metallica falls in round 2 and an unexpected Bon Jovi emerges. The 70's favorites fall to Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Grateful Dead. The Dead end up winning their bracket. # Pearl Jam fans cruise through the 90's bracket, hitting a small speed bump at Tool, before dismantling the Dead. Pearl Jam looks poised to win the tournament regardless of the BJ/BB winner, and many PJ fans take a cocky "it's in the bag" attitude. # Bon Jovi fails to hang on against Breaking Benjamin's bandwagon. At any other time in the Philadelphia area, Bon Jovi should win this match handily for the 80's, in spite of not being Metallica. # The contest gets a delayed start. Pearl Jam fans who were only haphazardly listening or even not at all simply text at the appopriate time, which is rendered as an early and uncounted vote. # The text vote message is obfuscated. Previous rounds, Pearl Jam voters have had to text PEARLJAM, JAM, PEARL, or PJ, while Breaking Benjamin has simply been BB every round. Many inobservant Pearl Jam voters text the wrong message in. The DJ handling the finals is Randy Kotz, who believes the rules are the rules, and does not count the errant votes. # The match proves to be too close to call after the first two songs, so Randy extends the final for a third song from each band. Pearl Jam voters call in for Pearl Jam. Everyone else is sick of Pearl Jam (or moreso their cocky fans) and pushes for Breaking Benjamin, whether they happen to like BB or not. Remove any one of these lines from the sequence of events, and Breaking Benjamin's run ends short somewhere. Maybe they win a round or two, but not take it all the way. While BB has been solid in the years since, they have not come close to repeating the success they had in 2007. Category:Bands Category:00's Bands Category:Bracket Winners Category:Tournament Champions